Mirror of Erised
The Mirror of Erised is a magical mirror, which, according to Albus Dumbledore, shows the "deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts." The name "Erised" is "desire" spelled backwards, as if reflected in a mirror. The happiest and most satisfied person in the world would look in the mirror and see a reflection of them, exactly as they were, for they would then have no one and nothing more to yearn or desire for that the mirror could ever show them. But of course, it is intrinsically inherent for human nature to desire something greater than one's own self - meaning that an event wherein the mirror fails to carry out its intended purpose rarely, if at all, happens. The writing engraved on the frame of the mirror is supposedly in a foreign and probably dead language, but if you look closely it says "I show not your face but your heart's desire" backwards, with the spaces rearranged. Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. History Early history The Mirror of Erised was created before the end of the nineteenth century. It is unknown who the creator was. The mirror is one of those magical artefacts that seems to have been created in a spirit of fun (whether innocent or malevolent is a matter of opinion), because while it is much more revealing than a normal mirror, it is interesting rather than useful. (transcription available here) Indeed, it became grimly apparent over the years that the mirror could bring more harm than good; many wasted their lives before the mirror, losing track of reality as they were deluded by what they saw and unable or unwilling to accept it as mere fantasy. Some were even driven mad by seeing their most desperate desire presented before them as a mere image confined within the frames of the mirror, unable to achieve what they are witnessing. It is unknown how it came to be at Hogwarts. A succession of teachers have brought back interesting artefacts from their travels, so it might have arrived at the castle in this casual manner, either because the teacher knew how it worked and was intrigued by it, or because they did not understand it and wished to ask their colleagues' opinions. (transcription available here) The Mirror had been kept in the Room of Requirement since around 1891. In September of 1927, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Albus Dumbledore looked into the mirror and saw his former best friend, Gellert Grindelwald, indicating he still has lingering feelings for him, as well an old memory of himself and Grindelwald in a barn where they made a blood pact; swearing an oath never to fight each other, showing that Albus still valued that memory, manifested before him by the mirror as his greatest desire, of the time when his friendship with Gellert was at its strongest that led to the two of them cementing it with the pact in the first place. 64 years later, in 1991, Dumbledore, now headmaster, had brought it out, and, tucking it out of sight in a disused classroom, initiated some key modifications to the mirror, so that it could hide the Philosopher's Stone. 1991-1992 The Mirror was discovered by Harry Potter on the night that he used his father's Invisibility Cloak for the first time, to search the restricted section of the library for information about Nicolas Flamel. In his attempt to stay hidden from Argus Filch, the school caretaker, he stumbled upon the classroom where the mirror was being stored. Upon looking into it, Harry saw his late parents, Lily and James Potter. On his next midnight visit to the mirror, he brought Ronald Weasley, hoping to show him his family. However, Ron saw himself as the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and Head Boy, holding up the Quidditch Cup, as he has always been overshadowed by his brothers and is always striving to be noticed by others. Over the next few days, Harry proceeded to visit it as often as he could to see his parents' faces; the Mirror also occupied his thoughts beyond anything else, to the extent that he disregarded Ron's warning that he was growing obsessed with it. Dumbledore found Harry visiting the mirror one night, and after explaining to Harry what the mirror was all about, told him that the mirror was to be moved and requested that Harry not go looking for it. Before heading back to bed, Harry asked Dumbledore what he saw when he looked into the mirror. Dumbledore claimed to see himself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks, telling Harry that "one can never have enough socks." If this had been true, it would suggest that Dumbledore was so content with life that the only things he wished for were small things. However, Dumbledore was lying — the matter being a very personal one. Unbeknownst to Harry, for a long time, Dumbledore’s greatest desire was to be with his former lover, Gellert Grindelwald. But, by 1998, as revealed to Harry, Dumbledore, having come to terms with his guilt over his sister’s death, saw his family whole and intact, free of any pain or suffering. It is unknown if Grindelwald, as a redeemed man, was included in these later reflections. In 1992, the Mirror was the final guardian of the Philosopher's Stone in its Chambers. Dumbledore placed an enchantment on the mirror, hiding the stone inside of it, and allowing the mirror to transfer the stone only to one who wanted to find the stone but not to use it. Anybody wishing more than simply to find it would see themselves making gold or the Elixir of Life, or in Professor Quirrell's case presenting the stone to his master. This is because the greatest desire of anyone wanting to use the stone would not have their greatest desire to be finding it in the first place; anyone just wanting to find the stone but not use it would thus have their greatest desire to find the stone thus have their wish granted. When Professor Quirrell ordered Harry to look into the mirror, Harry focused on finding the stone, and, uninterested in actually using the stone for his own purposes, saw his reflection pocketing the stone, at which time it magically appeared in his real pocket. It is not known what happened to the mirror after these events. It might have stayed in the chamber or returned to its classroom. During the Calamity which mysteriously happened across the Wizarding world in the 2010s, the Mirror of Erised was one of the numerous magical artefacts and items that were displayed across the world as Foundables. Volunteer wizards and witches had to cast spells to banish the Confoundables guarding them, to return the Foundables to their rightful places of belonging. Powers The Mirror shows the greatest desire of the one looking into it upon its surface, often with them having achieved some goal or ambition. However, since each person is unique, only they can likewise see it from their point of view and no one else. According to Albus Dumbledore, the Mirror shows neither truth nor knowledge (though it can if the subject being or question what is is it that the person most desires), and some have in fact gone mad from staring at it. Additionally, in time what a person sees in the Mirror can change, if that person's greatest desire changes. Dumbledore later bewitched the Mirror to hold the Philosopher's Stone, where the only one who could retrieve it from the Mirror would be one who wanted to find the Stone but not use it or have it used. Known desires Etymology The word "Erised" (pronounced eer-eh-said) is "desire" spelled backwards, meaning the name could also be known as the "Mirror of Desire". The backwards spelling symbolises how mirror reflections flip images around (for example, "erised" when reflected in a mirror spells "desire"). However, because this is no ordinary mirror, the text also shows how the mirror is very different from standard mirrors, in the way that it shows the inner desires and not the outside appearance of a person. Behind the scenes ]] ]] *Albus Dumbledore lied to Harry Potter in 1991 about what he saw in the Mirror. *The quote "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" on the mirror mentioned by Dumbledore reversed is "ishow no tyo urfac ebu tyo urhe arts desire", which with proper spacing becomes "I show not your face but your heart's desire". *The Mirror of Erised can probably be considered to be an enchanted mirror, albeit an unparalleled advanced one. *Contrary to Dumbledore's words, the mirror does give its users knowledge, as it shows them what they want the most, even if they do not know for certain. Stranger still, it is implied that the picture of his family Harry Potter saw in the mirror was accurate, even though he could not possibly have known what his grandparents and other distant relatives looked like beforehand. *In , Ron sees himself in a Gryffindor Quidditch team uniform while receiving a kiss on the cheek from Hermione Granger. *In , when Harry touches Quirrell's/Voldemort's face and vanquishes him, his parents applaud in the mirror. When Harry is knocked unconscious and Voldemort's disembodied soul fails to grab the stone, his parents laugh at Voldemort's defeat. *In , when Harry finds the lost diadem in the Room of Requirement, Draco (along with Goyle and Blaise) stands in the way of Harry's progress. Behind them the mirror can be seen among a pile of other hidden objects. Thus, it is quite obvious it was destroyed with everything else in the room by Goyle's spell, unless the prop was being reused as an easter egg for the fans. Neither is yet to have been confirmed. *In the video game adaptation of , the mirror is shown with the ability to reflect spells, which is often used as a way to defeat Quirrell/Voldemort; how this often occurs varies: **In the PC and GBA versions of The Philosopher's Stone, Harry must use the proper side of the mirror itself to deflect Quirrell's spells back at him in the second phase of the battle. In both cases, he must cast the Knockback Jinx on it to orient it properly. **The PS2, Xbox and Gamecube versions instead involve having Harry stay close to the mirror, with Quirrell deeming that its power is protecting him; this is indicated with a white trail of magic connecting Harry to the mirror if he stays within a certain range of it, allowing him to absorb Quirrell's main offensive spell with no damage and to fire it back at him. **The PS1 version instead, involves Harry charging the mirror with a spell cast at it; a second one right after fires a beam straight from it that can damage Quirrell, but the mirror is unable to be oriented and Quirrell must be in proper position. **However, the only exceptions so far are in the GBC version of the game and in , where Quirrell is engaged in direct combat with the mirror having no involvement in the battle. *In 2003, J. K. Rowling said that she would probably see herself as she is in the Mirror, because she had had another child, David Rowling Murray, just a few months before. She also added that she would like to see her mother alive again, and would hope that "there'd be room over ''her shoulder to see a scientist inventing a cigarette that would be healthy''" and "a particular journalist being boiled in oil.""Fry, Stephen, interviewer: J.K. Rowling at the Royal Albert Hall, 26 June 2003" at Accio Quote *The Mirror is possibly inspired by the magic mirrors in classic fairy tales such as Snow White, in which the desire of the story's antagonist, The Queen, is to be the fairest in the kingdom. *The scene where Harry sees his parents in the mirror for the first time makes an appearance in during Harry's Occlumency lessons with Snape. *The Mainland Chinese version of included various footnotes from the translator explaining various aspects of British culture to Chinese readers. The footnote for the Mirror of Erised's inscription incorrectly claims that it is a secret Taoist charm. *The Mirror of Erised can be considered the polar opposite of a Boggart; though both have identical abilities, the Mirror shows the person's deepest desire while a Boggart shows their deepest fear. They are, of course, set apart by the fact that Boggarts are a type of creature, whereas the Mirror is merely an object, which has never shown any sort of personality or personal volition. * In , the Mirror of Erised depicts both Albus Dumbledore together with Gellert Grindelwald and the two of them forming their blood pact, despite the latter simply being a re-enactment of something which had already happened, rather than something which Dumbledore desired. Though it is possible that the mirror reflected the desire of being in a similar situation again. Author's comments "Albus Dumbledore's words of caution to Harry when discussing the Mirror of Erised express my own views. The advice to 'hold on to your dreams' is all well and good, but there comes a point when holding on to your dreams becomes unhelpful and even unhealthy. Dumbledore knows that life can pass you by while you are clinging on to a wish that can never be - or ought never to be - fulfilled. Harry's deepest yearning is for something impossible: the return of his parents. Desperately sad though it is that he has been deprived of his family, Dumbledore knows that to sit gazing on a vision of what he can never have, will only damage Harry. The mirror is bewitching and tantalising, but it does not necessarily bring happiness." Appearances * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Notes and references es:Espejo de Oesed de2:Spiegel Nerhegeb fr:Miroir du Riséd it:Specchio delle Emarb nl:Spiegel van Neregeb ru:Зеркало Еиналеж pl:Zwierciadło Ain Eingarp pt-br:Espelho de Ojesed Category:Gold Objects Category:Magical objects Category:Mental magic Category:Mirrors Category:Underground Chambers